Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a gorgeous, sweet book, and even if it's far from perfect, it manages to create a wonderfully bizzare version of Tokyo in a relatively short amount of time.
In a coffee house in the back alleys of Tokyo, visitors can experience freshly brewed coffee and, well, a time travelling table and chair. Using the spot comes with some caveats - mainly, you must drink your coffee before it gets cold to return to your time period.
While Kawaguchi keeps a loose cast running through the novel, the book is really a collection of shorts explorating how different visitors make use of the time travelling phenomenon. It's whimsical, silly and often incredibly sad, and while you never really attach yourself to any of the cast, Kawaguchi has done a great job of emoting the characters individual stories.
The coffee house itself is also a well realised setting, and Kawaguchi does a fine job at bringing everything to life. Maybe the biggest pitfall is the often ropey translation from Japanese to English, but it's a small price to pay for a well written, sharp story that can easily help you pass away a couple of evenings.

What a fascinating and unique concept for a novel. I can't say too much about the story because that would spoil the beauty of its unfolding, but if you don't read this beautiful book you will have missed out big time! One of my favourite reads of the year.

Nicely written story. It got a bit boring but as I kept going, everything started to make sense. I’d like to know more about the characters and what happened later...

Before The Coffee Gets Cold is unapologetically awkward and campy, but it is full of soul, presented through clever world building and unfolding of its characters and relationships.

Not my normal genre however a great read that was refreshingly different, it was simple & deep all at once and offers you the chance to see the world through the eyes of another culture. Definitely worth persevering with if you are not immediately taken with the story line. Highly recommended.

Felt a little lightweight and breezy, like it wants to be deeper than it is in reality. Nevertheless, touching.

A small basement cafe in Tokyo can let you travel back in time to a moment of your choosing. But there are rules, and if they’re not followed properly there are dire consequences. So, if given the chance, would you choose to travel back in time? And if so, would you be sure to come back before the coffee gets cold?

This is such a cute, unusual book. Split into four parts it follows four different characters as they each choose one moment to visit. While each story is separate, they also flow beautifully on from one another, creating one fluid novel. Each story builds on the details of the ones before, whether this is information about characters lives or the history of the cafe, or the rules of the time travel, so by the end you feel like you’ve visited this cafe yourself.

I really enjoyed this book. Some bits were slightly repetitive, but overall it was very sweet, funny, and very unusual. I can see myself coming back to it again and being swept up in the mystery and atmosphere of the cafe all over again.  4 stars

magine you could go back in time but had to return before your coffee gets cold. Fascinating concept.
Such a charming idea, so simple and engaging. Reminds me of the children's television programme Mister Benn, where a man has a short time travel adventure in a fancy-dress shop, only to return to the present when the shopkeeper arrives. In this book though, the people to not go back to the times of gladiators but to their own recent past.

The story is set in a tiny basement cafe where people go for coffee and a spot of supernatural therapy. There are rigid rules for this time travel, which to many people makes the trip not worth the effort. For example, there is a particular chair you have to sit in and not move from and, more significantly, the present will always remain the same. So no matter what anyone does in the revisited past, nothing with change.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold looks at human nature and the little things that remain unsaid. Events may not change but the frame of mind almost certainly will. The time travel is like hypnoses or a drug, the only thing that changes is perception.

There are about half a dozen characters in the featured coffee shop, all with confusing Japanese names that include the letters kay or zed in their names, or sometimes both - but that is a failing due to my ignorance of Japanese. Fortunately, some of the characters are filled out enough to be distinguished from the others.

The telling of each of their stories is like a fable, both in the content and the manner in which it is told, making this book a little treasure. The man with dementia who now fails to recognise his wife is very sad.

​A delightful and profound novel.

A warm cosy setting, a colourful cast of characters and an array of beautiful heartwarming stories all rolled into one strange little novella make Before The Coffee Gets Cold possibly the most Hufflepuff book of the year. Ultimately it’s about bringing people together despite the seemingly impossible and gaining closure all from a quirky cafe in a back alley of Tokyo. Moving, thought-provoking and beautifully written, your favourite Puff will give it the biggest hug on turning the last page.

Enjoyed the book. I found the plot really good and really enjoyed it. I also found the characters really interesting. Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this in return for a review.

I'll be honest, I came for the cat on the cover, I stayed for the beautiful story. When I requested to read Before The Coffee Gets Cold, I was expecting Japanese translation in the vein of The Guest Cat and If Cats Disappeared From The World. What you get is so much more.

This is one of the most beautiful translations I've read, skillfully intertwining several stories into one overarching narrative about a little cafe in Tokyo with strange abilities. You can tell it's been adapted from a play the author previously wrote and whilst it does start off a little clunky, by the halfway point I was completely entranced.

Would highly recommend, thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read the ARC.

Where the ordinary meets the extraordinary, in a nondescript coffee shop in Tokyo. This story has only a few characters. Everyone in the coffee shop has a story, and this follows four individuals as they travel back in time, not to change the present, but to understand someone they care about better. Or, to make themselves understood. The time travel has many rules, but for those who follow them, there are surprisingly positive results.

This story is beautifully translated, and the ambience and culture come through the characters and the setting. This is an emotional, quirky tale of discord, misunderstanding, loss and love. The time travellers are ordinary people, they want the opportunity to do something different, in the past. This makes them authentic and relatable, and the story engaging.

The rules of the unexpected time travel are fixed, and give a sense of reality, in a fantasy situation. I understood this world, and therefore enjoyed the story.

Enchanting and original, but strangely believable, because of the authentic characters and the contemporary urban setting.

I received a copy of this book from Picador Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

What would you change of you could go back in time? This is the question presented in Before The Coffee Gets Cold. In a little basement cafe in Tokyo, there is a café with a little known secret - it's possible to travel back in time.

The book covers stories around 4 different people and their various reasons;
⦁ A couple who are going to break up
⦁ A man with Alzheimers
⦁ Seeing someone for the last time
⦁ To meet someone they never got the chance to know

Before The Coffee Gets Cold was originally intended to be a play, before being adapted into a novel. It has also been adapted into a film known as Cafe Funiculi Funicula. It is a Japanese story by Toshikazu Kawaguch and translated to English by Geoffrey Trousselot.

Perhaps this work would be more suited to stage or film. This is because I could not get along with the style of writing. It's hard to tell if this lies in the translation job, or if this is how the writing was intended to flow. The dialogue is short and simple, but the actions and locations of the characters are often described repetitively, which isn't too interesting when they remain seated at the same table or stood behind the counter. The descriptions of the characters are given in a basic style, just outlining colours of clothing and appearance. There was a lot of “information dumping” which whilst it set the scene and gave some context, it didn’t give any emotional connection to the characters or move their stories along. I found it hard to stay interested and focused on the story that was trying to be told after getting to the third part. Unfortunately, I couldn't be motivated to read any further. Again, I would be interested to watch a film adaptation instead, because the concept is interesting.

I think I am just disappointed because I expected a bit more from this book having read the blurb. I assumed Before The Coffee Gets Cold might achieve something poignant and moving due to the subject matter and regrettably, I felt this missed the mark.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this e book to review

I thoroughly enjoyed this short but sweet story. The style of writing just pulled me through the pages. It was a joyous way to spend a wintry afternoon curled up with a cup of coffee...

I didn’t enjoy this so abandoned it when 10% through. Just not my type of book, although I can see why other readers would enjoy it.

This is such an adorable little book.

The concept of time travel has been done so many times in fiction but this managed to feel fresh and original. By having very specific rules imposed on the time travel (person must sit in a specific chair, can only go once and must return before the coffee gets cold) it made the whole thing seem so much more believable. Perhaps because it made it less of a perfect fantasy, that we all may imagine, and more just a little perk of everyday life.

I love Japanese fiction as everything I've come across from Japanese authors feels unique and well written. This is no exception.

There is a real sense of place and the writing is wonderfully descriptive. In such a short novel it can be hard to develop characters that you care about but I did care about these characters.

I also loved the little onomatopoeic bits like the sound of the cafe door bell.

It became surprisingly emotional too and really touched my heart strings.

A beautiful and enjoyable book with good emotional depth.

Thanks to Picador, the author and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this advanced copy.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is about a strange little basement cafe. The whole book is based there. There’s something very special about it; in the right circumstances, you can travel in time. But of course, there are strict rules to follow. Nothing is ever that simple. But many people still go to the cafe to travel back for all sorts of reasons. This book follows the stories of a few of those people, as well as the people who work in the cafe.

I really liked the set up of the book, because each chapter follows the story of a different person going back in time. But there are only a few people that regularly go to the cafe, so all the same characters are around for most of the book.

The translation from Japanese is very well done, and the writing is beautiful. The book is all about love and loss, and the emotions come across so delicately but powerfully. The characters are very quirky, in typical Japanese style, so the emotion is at times intertwined with some fun bits of lighthearted humour.

I really loved this book. It’s short and sweet, and the author has such a light touch that this is just a delight to read.

In Tokyo there is a cafe in the backstreets that doesn't seem to have changed since the 1800's.
Myth has it that in this shop there is a certain chair that if you sit on you can travel back in time and beyond the present. But there are restrictions the main one being is you must return before your coffee gets cold.
So who are the kind of people that would do this, what would they need to do in such a short space of time and why?. It poises the question that if you could go back in time what would you change, ask or who would you see?. The book follows four customers who do it and we learn of their quests and acceptance.
I enjoyed very much the magical realism aspect to the story. It is certainly thought provoking and I know in a heartbeat what I would want to do & who I would want to see and that I think is what the author is wanting us to reflect on.
A very emotional book I throughly enjoyed.
My thanks go to the author, publisher and Netgalley in providing this arc in return for a honest review. (less)

If you're weary of reading about literary angst, hideous suffering and dysfunctional families, this newly translated novel could be the antidote to January gloom! It is made up of four interlinked stories located in a downtown café in Tokyo called the Funiculi Funicula. The café is notorious because a pervasive rumour, assumed by most people to be an urban myth, claims that there is a chair and table in the café where time travelling is possible.

The four stories are essentially about returning to conversations you have previously had in the café and attempting to correct what you said or the impression that you gave. Three are about returning to the past and one about seeing the future.

So far so good, but what makes the book special is the lightness of touch. The workers in the café seem to tolerate the chair with slight amusement while providing its customers with the sequence of peculiar rules which govern the experience. One of them is drinking your coffee before it gets cold and returning to the present, hence the title. Another is that you cannot change what happens. Also, the chair is guarded by a rather spiky ghost. It is all gently paced and amusing.

What the chair does allow its occupants to do is to correct false impressions that they gave or the kind of long term misunderstandings which arise in relationships and families. The stories are positive without being overly sentimental or schmaltzy while recounted with a neutral style and unfolding at their own pace. It makes for a nice mix which avoids falling into the trap of being 'heartwarming' and is fun to read. I liked the characters and warmed to their stories.

My thanks to Pan Macmillan for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘When the Coffee Gets Cold’ by Toshikazu Kawaguchi in exchange for an honest review. It was translated from the Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot and published this September. My apologies for the late feedback.

As it was on sale I bought the audiobook edition narrated by Arina Li, which allowed me to listen alongside reading the eARC.

“What would you change if you could go back in time?....
In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.”

This short novel contains four chapters: each one focusing on someone hoping to use the cafe’s unique time travelling offer to see someone important to them one last time. However, there are a number of strict rules that the would-be time traveler has to follow including that they have to sit in a particular seat and not move from it. Plus, very importantly that the trip must end before their coffee gets cold.

Aside from the time travelling there is a touch of magical realism running throughout the story. I found it quirky, heartwarming, and quite moving.

It may not to be to everyone’s taste but I delighted in its strangeness and charm and thought it was beautifully translated.